Why do they put jewels in watches

Top Collections. Our Boutiques. Explore Our New Boutiques. Explore The. Discover why jewels are integral components in a mechanical watch movement, and how they're incorporated into the mechanism. Mitrajit Bhattacharya September 27, Jewels or gemstones were introduced in watch movements to reduce friction at points of heaviest wear and tear. When metal rubs against metal, and when oil meant for lubrication breaks down, the damage to pivots and bearings can be severe.

In order to reduce friction between two metal components that rub against one another, watchmakers use hard stones at the points of friction as they last a lot longer than metal. To reduce metal-on-metal wear and tear, watchmakers needed to find a substance that was harder than metal and so began the use of jewels within watch movements. The jewels that are hard enough are diamonds, sapphires and rubies. The latter two were cheaper than diamonds and could also be synthetically created.

Rubies are used more often because their Mohs scale measurement is similar to diamonds. Mohs is a scale used to measure the relative harness of a mineral, based on its resistance to scratching. These days there are synthetic rubies created which do the work of natural jewels in watches quite well. It was initially quite difficult to create and set these jewels.

The number of jewels in a movement was a true indicator of its quality. Each bearing makes the gears turn smoothly. Back in the day, watch jewels are made of actual precious gems such as a ruby. Before that, manufacturers employed the help of quartz, glass, or garnet in the process. So, yes, historically watch jewels are, indeed, made of precious stones!

However, as time and technology allowed, a few innovations managed to cut down a lot of costs for movement manufacturers.

A lot of manufactures recently adopted the use of synthetic rubies and sapphires, lab-created not only for a more convenient and cost-efficient source but also for more ethical reasons as well. These jewels — synthetic or not — provide the same function. They all act as bearings to make the watch move more efficiently and keep it from wearing down easily. Jewels allow metal components to rotate freely for a more accurate and durable movement.

In short, the jewels help make the movement last longer than it had ever been before. However, they can be more complicated than that. Bearings have four different types that can be found in modern-day movements: cap, hole, pallet, and roller jewels. Pierced jewels, also popularly known as hole jewels, can easily be spotted due to the hole right in it. Most of the time, hole jewels have a slightly rounded top side, while its bottom part is flat.

If paired with a cap jewel or capstones , they make up a set referred to as a pivot bearing. Together, they make the axle spin. On the other hand, when placed on the balance staff, they make an anti-shock part, held in place by springs for optimal shock absorption. Cap jewels, also known as end stones or capstones, work just as the others do. However, they require a second or outer jewel that sits at the tip of the gear shaft.

This results in a few functional effects. Firstly, it ensures lubrication for fast-moving parts like the balance wheel. This is done by forming a small oil reservoir between the two jewels. This type of bearing also keeps the shoulders of the arbour from rubbing against the jewels. If the shoulders of the arbour rubbed against the jewels, it can greatly impact the accuracy of the watch.

Moreover, capstones also keep the arbour from moving unnecessarily up and down during rotation. As its name suggests, the pallet jewels have a pretty straightforward function.

They can be described as rectangular jewels. Pallet jewels can also be found at the end of each of the arms of a pallet fork. Not only do they let watches last longer, but jewels let them be more accurate. If you think about it, you can probably guess why: Friction stops gears in their tracks. The more friction that builds up, the slower the gears would move. Over time, your piece would display time that is way behind. By no means do they need jewels to function.

You can find some great quartz pieces without them inside. Why is this? There are a very few inside, and they are not as intricate as in their mechanical counterparts.

The gears in cheaper quartz pieces are usually made from plastic. They have steel in them. These jewels are usually synthetic rubies more on this below that have a very specific sized hole. They work hand-in-hand with their holed counterparts. Cap jewels are placed alongside the pivot attached to a hole jewel, preventing it from moving sideways.

They usually come with some kind of shock resistance, protecting the gear if the watch is ever is dropped. Ever seen a pallet fork before? This type of jewel looks like one. Instead, it works in pairs with itself. Remember how we said pallet jewels transfer impulses? As you know, real jewels were used back in the day.

The jewels used these days are their synthetic counterparts. Besides, automatic watches are generally more prone to wear and tear. So keeping this in mind, watch manufacturers use more jewels in an automatic watch over a mechanical watch. For instance, the Bulova jewel watch with sapphire bearings, developed in the 60s, stands the true test of time.

Without needing any service or repair, this timepiece functions precisely and accurately even today. These jewels come with a natural ability for lubricant retention, making it possible to retain the accuracy of time for many years without service. These functions require a higher number of jewel bearing to ensure the smooth functioning of the added components without further friction build-up.

To this extent, the most complicated watch ever made by Vacheron Constantin with 57 complications comes equipped with over jewels. While there is no definite answer to how many jewels make a watch perfect or good, it largely depends on the movement type and the number of complications in them.

This is because mechanical watches use 17 jewels to compliment all the components consisting of the balance wheel, central wheel, staff pivot, pivot bearing, escape lever, escape lever pallet, fourth wheel, third wheel, and escape wheel.

Whereas, watches with automatic movement or watches with many complications tend to use a higher number of jewels. Watch brands add more jewels based on the requirement of the watch functions. A simple mechanical watch comes with 17 jewels. A higher number of complications or an automatic movement in a watch requires more jewels.

You may have seen some brands focusing on the jewel number to increase the cost or value of the watch. To this extent, some brands market a higher number of jewels merely to increase the cost of the watch.

However, it is wise to remember that more jewels do not make the watch function any better than the actual number of jewels required. Though, some mechanical watches may use jewels to reduce any positional errors within the watch. Similarly, watches with an automatic movement have multiple moving parts, requiring a higher number of jewels.

Sometimes, more jewels than actually required can lead to a detrimental effect over the long term as well.